Sign Of The Times – Syracuse Doc Gives Up Solo Practice

Nearly 20 years after Dr. Jeffrey Sneider hung out his shingle, flying solo has lost its allure for the Syracuse internal medicine physician.

Earlier this month, he partnered with Dr. Anne Barash, a family medicine doctor, in Primary Care Associates at 181 Intrepid Lane. Their practice is part of FamilyCare Medical Group, a large multi-specialty practice with more than 65 doctors in 30 locations in Central New York. All the doctors are employees of the group.

As a solo practitioner, Sneider said it was becoming ever more difficult to comply with increasing regulatory requirements and other financial pressures. ….

The group recently was approved by the federal government to form the Syracuse area’s first accountable care organization, a new system designed to provide better coordinated care at a lower cost to people on Medicare.

About 25 percent of doctors nationwide are in solo practice, according to the American Medical Association. That’s down from about 37 percent in 2001.

Many solo practitioners are seeing the cost of running a practice increase at the same time reimbursements are declining.(Read More)

Before we had kids Mr. LC and I went to FamilyCare Medical Group for a while. We would wait an hour or two to be seen when we had appointments. It didn’t take us long to leave that practice for the small primary care practice we still see today. We’re hoping Obamacare doesn’t put them out of business.